“How do you even know this?” Sloane asked sceptically.
“One guess.” Tegan laughed as her cousin made the connection.
“He was going to breakSolitude?” Sloane whispered incredulously.
“By his account, he strode right in and pulled back the bedcurtains.” Tegan stifled her laugh as she thought about it. At first, she had been as dismayed as her cousin at theaudacityof the Castor, but when she thought about it now, it made her laugh at the sheergutsit took to be Cord.
“He’s unbelievable,” Sloane muttered even as he smiled at the thought of his bold brother. “But this still doesn’t explain your allegation.”
“He saw your father in the hall before he entered the bedchamber, spoke to him.” Tegan looked up at her cousin hesitantly. “And then that very same evening, your father called you away from your home.”
“He called for me as Heir,” Sloane said carefully. “Itistime for me to learn my role.”
“Sloane, you have been with Michael every day since you were what, five?” Tegan asked as she turned to face him, her hands on her hips. “Salem has beenteachingyou how to be Heir every day, the same as he taught Michael.”
Sloane looked over the gardens, breaking his cousin’s hard stare.
“Do not look away from me,” Tegan chided him as she reached up and grabbed his chin. “You are not hiding from me, cousin. You know how to be Heir to yoursubjects, you’ve always known. Yes, Cornelius needs to tell yousomethings, but in the name of Delfar, are you telling me, Sloane, that you don’t know how to govern the lands that your House holds?”
“Of course I know.” Sloane jerked his head away from her grip and frowned back towards his father’s house.
“Then what are you doing?” Tegan asked in exasperation.
“I still need to learn, Tegan,” Sloane explained. “I know what to do, but I don’t knowhowto do it.”
“I don’t understand,” Tegan admitted as she frowned at him. “You just said you know what to do.”
Sloane gave a low chuckle as he walked a few paces in front of Tegan and took in the well landscaped gardens of his father’s estate. “I know the theory, I knowwhat’ssupposed to be done, but my father needs to teach me how to do it. I need to know the Akrhyn who rely on me and who this House relies on as provider of most of what we live on.” Sloane gestured for Tegan to sit on one of the marble benches. “He sent me to the Northern Headquarters when I was five to spy on the Holt Heir,” Sloane told her as he sat beside her on the bench. “Cord had already been taken in by the Castors to train and learn, and my father had already named him Heir. I had no value to my House other than get close to the Heir of the Northern Headquarters.”
“Youhavevalue,” Tegan rumbled as her ire grew at Cornelius’s callousness.
“I do, but to this House?” Sloane stared back up at his family home and sighed. “I am just the younger son, who was sent away to train like any other Sentinel. The Akrhyn on this estate, who work this land for their homes and this House, or the Akrhyn whoprotectmy House, they don’t knowme, Tegan. They don’t recognise me as Heir.Cordis the Heir they were promised. Cord is who theywant.” Sloane stood and straightened his jacket as he looked down at her. Smiling, he held his hand out to her, his grin wide when Tegan ignored it and stood beside him. “My father will not actuallywantme here as Heir, I know that.” Sloane hooked Tegan’s arm into his like always as they started to walk the gardens again. “But, while I am here, I am going to make this work to my advantage.”
“How?”
“Well, I’m quite charming.” Sloane smiled at her with a wink. “And I have Cord for an older brother.”
“Which you just said was yourdisadvantage,” Tegan reminded him.
“Yes, but have you ever competed against Cord? Don’t answer that, I know you haven’t. You see, my brother is a master manipulator.” Sloane’s hand tightened on Tegan’s arm as she started to protest. “He is, he prides himself on his cleverness,” Sloane continued. “So if you need to win against Cord, you need to be able to lie and have a good poker face.”
Tegan’s nose scrunched up as she thought about it before she shook her head. “He’s a manipulator, and you’re a good liar, and this is supposed to help me understand why you’re charming?”
Sloane stopped and turned his cousin towards him. Confusion marred her beautiful face, and Sloane was so grateful for her in his life. Tegan was wonderfully uncomplicated. “My brother taught me to keep my emotions to myself, I can bluff with the best of them, Tegan, and I can fool my father. He thinks I am here as a move on his part against Salem.” Sloane smiled conspiratorially. “And I am sure he thinks he is causing a blow to Cord, but what he doesn’t know is that this, here, is exactly where I want to be.”
“Why? Your parents are horrible.”
Sloane’s laughter filled the empty gardens. “They are,” he agreed when he stopped laughing. “They’re playing power games, they are always playing games, and they both forget I am their son. I can play their games, and we can use me being here to our advantage.”
“And whilst you do that, you also learn your subjects?” Tegan asked in sudden understanding.
“Yes, I expect my father has done something atrocious, or is about to, and for that, I may need to be Heir sooner than I am ready. Cord will not save him from himself. My mother, I am sure, will only encourage him, and I seem to be the only one to care about this House and our Akrhyn who are loyal to this House.”
“You do not care if he has done something heinous?”
“I do, of course I do,” Sloane admitted. “But I am not the son who he wants to impress with his cleverness. Cord.” Sloane shook his head slightly. “Cord may have been able to bring him back from his madness, but Cord detests him so much for his acts of hate and prejudice, that their relationship was destroyed a long time ago.”
“I think you are already ready to be Heir,” Tegan said softly as she looked up at him. “They are fools not to see and recognise how amazing you are. You are every bit as equal as Cord.”